Latest / Calvary Church with Ed Taylor Podcast / 10221 - Wise Counsel on Servant Leadership - Exodus 18

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10221 - Wise Counsel on Servant Leadership - Exodus 18 · Calvary Church with Ed Taylor Podcast

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Welcome to the study of God's Word with pastor and author Ed
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Taylor, recorded live at Calvary Church in Aurora, Co.
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To learn more about the many resources available through
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Abounding Grace Media or to tune into our live stream services,
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visit us online at Calvary Co dot Church or download our free
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Calvary Church app. Now.
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Here's Pastor Ed to take us into our study.
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Amen. Amen.
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Open your Bibles. Exodus chapter 18 is where we
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are. Exodus chapter 18, a great
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chapter. It's one of those premier
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chapters of spiritual leadership I've entitled our Bible study,
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Wise Council on Spiritual Leadership.
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In my Bible, I have it highlighted different colors.
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You'll recall yellow is just regular old verses and my
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Bible's filled with yellow. I have highlighted verses that
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are pink. Pink guy reminds me that and
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tells me that that's a verse about the Holy Spirit.
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I also have verses highlighted orange that reminds me that this
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is a deity of Christ verse where the Bible says very clearly that
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Jesus is God. And then there are a few verses
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throughout the Bible that are highlighted in green.
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And I did choose green on purpose because green reminds me
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it's a go verse in my life. This is a verse to build my life
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on as a leader, as a servant, as a pastor.
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It's right. And one, a couple of those
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verses highlighted green are right here in this chapter
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because it is a it is a great responsibility to serve God in
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his church. You remember what James wrote in
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James chapter 3 and verse one. I'll read it to you.
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It says, my brethren, let not many of you become teachers
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knowing that we will receive the stricter judgement or in the new
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living translation it says that we will be judged by God with
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greater severity. And then in the message
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paraphrase version, it says, don't be in any rush to become a
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teacher, my friends. Teaching is highly responsible
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work and teachers are held to the stricter standards.
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And so there you are. You're saying, man, I think God
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wants to use me and I want to. I want to be able to instruct
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someone. I want to help someone along the
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way. And then you hear phrases like
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stricter judgement, greater severity and the strictest
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standards. And we're like, man, some of you
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are like, I am glad I'm not a teacher because those are heavy
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words to whom much is given, much is required.
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And of course, if it all depended upon us and we made it
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all about us, then we'd be very concerned.
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But it is God that calls and it is God that equips, and it is
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God that gifts men and women to lead and to teach and to help
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others. The easy way out would say, I
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don't want stricter judgement. Now you, you don't have to want
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it, but I guess the easier way, let me rephrase that.
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The easy way out is to avoid stricter judgement and to avoid
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the greater responsibility. But that again would be the easy
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way out. I believe believers, Christians
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throughout the world in every level of maturity from the new
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believer that's born again for seconds to the believer that's
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been living for Christ and walking with the Lord for 70
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years, are all teachers and leaders in some way.
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We have knowledge that the world doesn't have.
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We have wisdom that the world doesn't have.
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We have a word that the world doesn't pay attention to.
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And God has placed us into people's lives to help get their
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eyes on their lives in order and their eyes on something beyond
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where they are. So I think in a real way, all of
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us are in a position of leadership and servanthood.
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Which brings us to chapter 18. Here, chapter 18, you'll recall,
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is Moses leading the nation of Israel out of Egypt, out of
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bondage, headed toward the Promised land.
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And as they are leaving, one thing you may be noticing is
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that their needs become greater. They need more leaders.
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They need more leadership the farther they are from Egypt.
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Here's what here's where this what happens.
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The farther they are from Egypt, the closer they get together and
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the longer that they travel from Egypt, the longer they are
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together. And as we've learned before, the
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more whenever we have large groups of people and the more
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people they are, the closer together they get.
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You can guarantee they'll be friction, fighting and even
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folly. You remember I've shared the
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scripture with you on more than one occasion.
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This was a favorite of our my pastor Jeff in Proverbs 14 four,
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he says where there are no oxen, the through is clean, but much
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increase comes by the strength of an ox.
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And isn't it true? No ox, the stalls are clean,
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lots of oxen, lots of stuff. And in that illustration, you
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know, a smaller church have less problems, not no problems, but
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less problems. A larger church is going to have
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a lot of problems. And I just don't understand why
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people are surprised by that. I, I think part of that, of
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course, is our desire to follow God.
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We, we just are so hopeful. We're so positive.
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We are in a place where we're so optimistic and it's shocking
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that we've got conflict with somebody or we don't like
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something, or it's just the enemy wanting to get us mad at
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each other, divided, upset, wasting our energy on things
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that aren't eternal. Because wherever there are a lot
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of people, they're going to be a lot of problems.
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And when there are a lot of people and a lot of problems in
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this context of a church, here's what God does.
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He gives us a lot of leaders to help solve those problems.
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If there were no problems, there'd be no need for spiritual
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leadership. And by the time we get to
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chapter 18, again, by way of context, the children of Israel
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are tired. They're hungry, they're thirsty,
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they're upset, they're battle tested.
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Some of them are not just hungry and tired, they're hangry and
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upset. Anybody in here get hangry?
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Yeah. You won't admit it, but we know.
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And so far, although there are some elders mentioned of the
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tribes, really the only highlight that God has given us
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in leadership for the children of Israel thus far by name, at
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least for the most part, is Moses, Aaron, Joshua and her.
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And there are elders, there are people that are overseeing the
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tribes, but like the key people, I mean, it's Moses.
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And then we see in our last study together, God surrounded
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by these men. And we know Joshua's his
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assistant. But if there are, you know,
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3,000,000 plus people, that means Moses had responsibility
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of a church the size of 625,000 people.
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That's his church. And that's what he's leading by
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himself. Each one would have about
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600,000 people to oversee if it was just two and a half million
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people coming out of Egypt. And this is where God helps
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Moses and the help comes in a way that you may not fully
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expect just like it does sometimes in our lives.
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Notice in verse 1 chapter 18 and Jethro the priest of Midian
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which would make him a Pagan priest.
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At this point Moses father-in-law heard all that God
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had done for Moses and for the for Israel his people that the
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Lord had brought Israel out of Egypt.
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Then Jethro Moses father-in-law, took Zipporah Moses wife after
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he'd sent her back with her two sons, of whom the name was one
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of One was Gershom, for he said I've been a stranger in a
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foreign land. And the name of the other was
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Eliezer, for he said the God of my father was my help and
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delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh.
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And Jethro Moses, father-in-law, came with his sons and his wife
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to Moses in the wilderness, where he was encamped at the
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mountain of God. Moses has been separated from
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his family for some time now as God has used him in the
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deliverance of the nation. But it's time to be reunited.
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And as we look at leaders and servants in the church today, we
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remember that the priority is to seek first the Kingdom of God
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and He will give us the direction as we get to serve in
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various places. Is never God's will for us to
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serve the church more than we serve our own family.
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Family certainly requires our leading.
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Remember in First Timothy 3, we just saw this in a recent study,
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First Timothy 3 says Paul tells Timothy, the elders, I want you
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to look for I need to rule their own house.
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Well, and don't let that be misunderstand that you rule like
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a king, but rather ministry. A better way to look at that is
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serving and ministry always comes from a healthy family.
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You learn how to rule well where it really matters at home and
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it'll make you more effective. Don't think for a moment.
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Listen, I'm saying this out loud.
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So anybody thinking don't think for a moment that you can have
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an upside down house where you neglect your home and neglect
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your marriage and neglect your kids, neglect your singleness
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under the Lord and think you'll be any effective, you'll be at
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all effective in the Church of God.
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You won't. It doesn't work that way.
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It has to be consistent. Ministry comes out of the home.
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So here Moses has been separated.
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They it was back in chapter 4 when it happened.
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Some suggested Moses did this on purpose.
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Some other commentators suggest that it just wasn't something
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for the for the wife and the kids during this urgent time and
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the deliverance. We don't know, but she does go
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home to her dad and now she's being reunited.
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Now, keep in mind, Egypt is behind Moses and now perhaps
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he's settled into a routine trying to adapt to his life.
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He's got everything that's going on.
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He's become a shepherd and a pastor to these two and a half
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million. I mean, Can you imagine, just
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trying to put it into perspective here that Can you
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imagine like Moses is responsible.
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He feels that way. God called him to this.
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But Can you imagine just like taking it to today that there
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was one pastor over the entire Denver metro area, which is
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about two and a half million people or more?
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Like that's just unfathomable and yet God enabled Moses, God
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prepared Moses and enabled him to do just that in this season.
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It's unique, but it's being done right here.
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This is a true story. It's happening right before our
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eyes and as they as they're leaving Egypt and being reunited
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with Jethro gives opportunity for Moses to be also reunited
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with Jethro. Notice verse 6.
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Now he had said to Moses, Jethro did by your father-in-law,
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Jethro coming to you with your wife, and her two sons with her.
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So Moses went out to meet his father-in-law, bowed down and
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kissed him. And they asked each other about
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their well-being, and they went into the tent.
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And Moses told his father-in-law all that the Lord had done to
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Pharaoh and to the Egyptians for Israel's sake, all the hardship
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that they had come upon them on the way, and how the Lord had
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delivered them. Can you just pause for a second
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and Can you imagine how encouraging this conversation
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must have been, how exciting it must have been?
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Moses would say something in Jethro go really.
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And he'd say, oh, not just that you won't believe this.
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And yeah, man, you cannot believe how God has been
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faithful and on and on back and forth as they come to the tent
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together for a time of fellowship.
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Fellowship. If you want to write down a note
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here, you can write fellowship here.
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Even though Jethro at this point is in a place where he isn't
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worshipping the one true God, he knows about him.
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He knows about Moses. Moses, no doubt, along with
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Zipporah has been witnessing, sharing the gospel, sharing the
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truth of God in the home. And so this fellowship isn't
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like, you know, the the reality of A2 believers coming together,
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but it is a sharing in common. It is a sharing in common, which
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is what that word is about the things of God.
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And it's a great way to to subscribe and and be able to
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build a bridge into someone's life when they want to hear
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about the good things of God in your life.
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And then you can just sense it. You're you're meeting with your
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brother or your mom or your dad that don't really know the Lord,
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don't really love the Lord, but you're like telling them about
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the things of God and fine. They're like, are you serious?
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I really is that really in the body?
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Yes, you won't believe it. And you're sharing in common
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something where they're on the pathway right.
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Any unbeliever you're talking to, they're on the pathway
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towards salvation. That's where they're headed.
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Now. Of course, we hope that they
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receive, but that's not up to us.
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What's up to us? Some people plant, some people
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water, but God gives the increase.
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So this must been a wonderful time of sharing, especially
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sharing about the things of God, reunited with his wife and kids,
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talking about all the things that he has personally
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experienced about the power of God.
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And it's a wonderful thing to get together with family and
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friends to talk about the things of the Lord.
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And we have not too long from now, Thanksgiving is coming up
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where a lot of family, either you go to family or families
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coming in and start praying right now about opportunities to
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share about the great things that God has done in your life.
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Just begin to share one testimony like tonight you just
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like, you know, I came to church.
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I always go to church. I know you're always at church,
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you're always reading the Bible, but you don't understand.
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I came to church with something heaven on my heart.
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Nobody knew it. Nobody knew what I was thinking.
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I'm in a room with hundreds of people.
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Nobody knows. I didn't tell anybody.
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I'm just thinking about it, praying about it.
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And when you know it, the pastor gets up and says, oh, wait a
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minute, I got something to say before.
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And he starts talking about the thing that nobody knows.
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It's unbelievable. You know, people do that all the
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time. And you're like, no, people
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don't do that all the time. Because not only did that
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pastor, that man show up in the same room in the same building
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with the Bible open, he read a scripture that examined my
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heart. He read a scripture that
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examined my heart. And he said, if you're here and
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you're dealing with this issue, then just stand up.
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And I did. And then he told people to come
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over and lay hands on me. Why would they touch you?
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Because that's part of the what the Bible says.
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And you could turn it over and like, no way, no way.
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And then they prayed for me because we believe in the power
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of prayer. And do you know for a moment's
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time, or who knows, it may be it dealt with it completely that
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that issue and you can tell them what it is or not, but you can
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say that issue God completely took away.
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And I didn't tell anybody. You go, how is that even a
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positive process? He's probably just studying how
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to manipulate people. Nah, bro, you don't understand.
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It's not like that. God knows.
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Isn't that amazing that God knows?
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Think about that Thanksgiving conversation.
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It could be something really special.
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It could be big, it could be small, but it will never happen
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unless you speak up. It'll never happen.
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Jethro, he asks. And so maybe somebody will ask
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somebody. Well, just us.
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I mean, here's the question. You ready?
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The question was they asked each other about their well-being.
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So here's your invitation. You meet somebody and they say
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how you're doing. Boom, there's your open door.
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How am I doing? You will not believe what God
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has been doing in my life. And bam, bam.
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And who knows, they might shut you down, or it may be their
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appointment because they've got something on their heart that
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nobody knows about. They have something they're
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dealing with that they haven't told anybody.
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And the opportunity comes where the power of God meets through
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your testimony and the truth of God's Word and His power in your
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life. It's it's a neat thing that
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they're able to talk about these things because there is a
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possibility, the text doesn't say, but let's just throw it out
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as a possibility that what's on Moses heart right now that he
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hasn't told anybody is that this whole thing of leading people
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out of Egypt is really hard. And I'm tired.
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Two and a half million people coming to me.
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I am tired, I don't know if I want to do this anymore.
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And God brings his wife and his kids and his father-in-law to be
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one of the biggest blessings in his life to date right here.
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It's a powerful thing. Notice you see them sharing back
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and forth and look at the response with Jethro here.
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Now Jethro verse 9 rejoiced over all the good which the Lord had
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done for Israel, whom he had delivered out of the hand of the
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Egyptians. And Jethro said, blessed be the
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Lord who has delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians and
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out of the hand of Pharaoh, and who has delivered the people
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from under the hand of the Egyptians.
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Now I know that the Lord is greater than all the gods, for
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in the very thing in which they behaved proudly he was above
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them. Then Jethro Moses father-in-law
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took a burnt offering and sacrifices to God and Aaron came
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with the elders of Israel to eat bread with Moses father-in-law
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before God. Here's what I believe this is
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text is saying. Jethro just got saved with his
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son-in-law sharing the good things of God.
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He, I'm sure he is prepped and primed for this moment.
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But just a simple question. Hey, how you doing?
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How you doing now? You will not believe how I'm
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doing. This is amazing.
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And here he is, this religious man, no doubt, Goodman, perhaps
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it says that he gives God the glory.
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He confesses God is greater than all false gods and he offers an
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offering and a sacrifice because of this conversation with his
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son-in-law. It's amazing.
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I, I notice right away, as you see in verse 9, it says that
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Jethro rejoiced. He rejoiced at what he heard.
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Often we'll use the word rejoice as a way that we participate in
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worship, worship and song. Not necessarily just song, but
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worship. He had rejoiced in all the good
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that God has done. Jethro at this, a Gentile
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priest, a religious man, a Pagan, Yet because of Moses's
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and his daughter, I believe now is a believer, a true believer,
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a follower of the old covenant in the one true God, as it's
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been revealed thus far. I mean, we don't even have the
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law yet. And he's come.
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He's like, this is the God I want to follow.
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And so when you come to a worship service, that's what we
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call this gathering, Bible study, prayer.
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Maybe you come to the singles, you come to a marriage
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gathering, go up to the retreat. Ladies, in a couple weeks.
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When you come together for a worship service, part of what
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you want to remember to do is to rejoice in all that God has done
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in your life, all that God has done, and just be thankful and
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be grateful. Sometimes when we're talking
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with each other, sometimes when we're in a church service,
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sometimes I might even add, many times the only thing that we're
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talking about is all the bad stuff.
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All the bad stuff. Oh, you won't believe what
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happened. Oh, you won't believe what
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happened. What's happening in this world?
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Can't believe what did you see this on the news and on and on
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and on. It's like, yes, not a lot of
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encouragement and all the bad stuff.
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I mean, I'm not saying that we avoid the bad stuff, but we just
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say just enough so that we can rejoice in all the good things
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that God has done, all the things that he's been, and that
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you're really focused like on trying to remember these things.
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Trying to remember these things. We come to a building or a
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little strip mall or, you know, we used to meet in a basement of
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a church. We come together all beat up and
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bummed out, but we need to rejoice that God is faithful.
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You know, we come together harassed and heavy, but we need
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to remember and rejoice that God is love like all that he's
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doing. You come in with all your
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mistakes and your messes, but we remember that God will not
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abandon us. And here's the thing, you might
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see it in your own life, but I watched this in my life.
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I see it now that I know about it.
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I pay more close attention to it.
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But many times I'm living life going through the, you know, not
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facing whatever I need to face, handle what I need to handle,
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speak to who I need to speak to. And, and as I'm living, I find
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myself at a crossroads. I find myself at a crossroads
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through circumstances, through what I heard, what I had to take
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care of, you know, because at the level of leadership I have
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within the church, and it was this way when I was in the
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corporate world too. It just seems to be that's where
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God has placed me in the world to be at a level of leadership
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where I handle a lot of difficulties where where I'm in
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my life by the times in, you know, just the leadership in
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this church, you have to understand by the time something
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gets to my office or to my desk, it's probably the worst of the
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worst that's already been tried to solve by the other pastors
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and leaders here. They've already tried to handle
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it and they just need to bounce something off or they just like,
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OK, it's all yours now here you go.
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And and then I get to step into it in prayer and understanding
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and collaboratively. We can come up with a solution.
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But the level of difficulties that I face usually are bigger
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so that now you can see why I have the stricter judgement.
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It requires not some flippant answer, not that the pastors
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even give that. I don't mean that.
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But it's not like this. OK, I got 30 problems.
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Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom.
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OK, we're done. Like, it's not like that.
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You know why? Because we're dealing with
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people's lives. It's not just 30 little things.
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And then you have to understand if a pastor is involved in your
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life trying to convince you of something that's from the Lord,
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not just some pastor or some leader.
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And the wrestling that you have is probably not so much with the
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person that's trying to tell you something, but rather you're
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wrestling with the Lord. He's brought you in a situation
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to stretch you to grow me, to help me understand that He's
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taking me from glory to glory and strength to strength.
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But I stand there resolute or you stand there resolute.
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I I want my way. You may not use those words, but
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believe me, you're speaking in tongues and that's the
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interpretation. I want my way.
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And we have to remember, while God may give us our way, we need
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to understand that in the body of Christ we're unified to
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follow God's way. God's way.
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That's the only way that the church makes progress is in
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unity. And God, remember, is wanting to
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stretch us. And so Moses here, as he's with
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Jethro, there's a time of worship and rejoicing over what
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God has done. Make rejoicing a very important
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part of your life. You've had a hard day.
24:11
Rejoice in what God has done. You've had a hard week.
24:15
You've had a hard season. I'm rejoicing in what God has
24:19
done. It may take you some time to
24:20
develop that new habit, by the way, but you can do it.
24:24
You can do it if only like you or you know, again, you're some
24:28
of you're still resisting me right now and again you're I
24:31
want my way. OK, so, but hear me out.
24:33
Listen, it may take you some time.
24:36
You may you're thinking I have nothing to rejoice.
24:37
I have nothing to Well, then you may have to go all the way back
24:40
to the moment you were born again.
24:41
But I promise you, you have something to rejoice if it's
24:44
just the day that your sins were forgiven, that you recognize the
24:49
election of God upon your life, that you think about the
24:53
billions of people who've been on the planet earth and here you
24:56
are in right in a relationship with the living God.
24:59
You can rejoice in that. But I promise you, you have more
25:03
than that. But if that's the only thing you
25:05
can go back to, that's what you see.
25:08
You need to develop a habit of rejoicing and it doesn't matter.
25:11
I know sometimes we're like, well, I'm a pessimist, optimist,
25:14
realist. I don't care what you are,
25:16
Rejoice in the Lord for the great things He has done.
25:19
Just what it says here, it says Jethro rejoiced over all the
25:24
good which the Lord had done to Israel, all the good.
25:30
And it's encouraging as I have developed that habit and I want
25:34
to see more of it in my life because I do deal with
25:38
difficulties so much. It's easy to dwell on
25:40
difficulties. I don't know what the problem is
25:43
with. Like it's easier to dwell on
25:44
difficulties than it is all the good that God has done.
25:47
And even the difficulty you're facing right now down the road,
25:50
you're going to see all the good that God has done.
25:53
You don't see it now. It's like, yo, you don't
25:55
understand. I know that God's working all
25:57
things together for good. But not everything is good.
25:59
I know. But God is good.
26:02
And one day this will be a test of this test you're in.
26:04
Testimonies don't come without tests, and this test you're in
26:07
is going to become a testimony of the great things God has
26:10
done. And that's what they're doing
26:11
here. And it came from Moses.
26:13
Now notice what's happening here.
26:15
Set the tone for the rest of the chapter.
26:17
And so it was verse 13 on the next day that Moses went to
26:22
work. That's what it says.
26:24
He sat to judge the people, and the people stood before Moses
26:28
from morning until evening. So when Moses father-in-law
26:32
finally woke up and went to see, now I'm just kidding, he slept
26:35
in that day. So when Moses father-in-law saw
26:38
all that he did for the people, he said, what is this thing that
26:42
you're doing for the people? Why do you alone sit and all the
26:47
people stand before you from morning until evening?
26:51
And Moses said to his father-in-law, because the
26:53
people come to me to inquire of God.
26:56
When they have a difficulty, they come to me and I judge
26:58
between one and the other, and I make known the statutes of God
27:02
and His laws. Jethro, an outside source, comes
27:06
and sees what's happening. Moses been living this every
27:09
day, but from an outside perspective, Jethro sees
27:13
something and he asks a question.
27:15
So here's what does he see? Well, no doubt the leader, the
27:19
administrative leading and gifting of Moses.
27:21
He set up some kind of system to deal with the problems, to
27:25
oversee the needs of the people. And the system he set up was
27:29
they come to me. So I'm going to get a chair, I'm
27:31
going to sit, and I'm going to listen to their problems all
27:34
day, and I'm going to help them understand what God's law has to
27:38
say about them. It was a functional solution and
27:44
it was rather manageable in the beginning, but the system had
27:51
deeper problems along the way. And he, I love it.
27:55
It's a regular conversation here.
27:56
I don't think it's sarcastic or anything.
27:58
You don't read into it. What are you doing?
27:59
Well, people are coming to me. Well, I mean, why are you
28:01
sitting there all alone and doing that?
28:02
And what was his answer? Because people were coming to
28:04
me. It's a great answer.
28:07
It's almost like if there was nobody coming to me, I wouldn't
28:09
be doing this. Like it's, this is what I'm here
28:11
for. I mean, you could even hear in a
28:14
very sincere way, I'm God's deliverer.
28:16
Like I'm the man that got asked to, He commanded me to serve
28:19
them. I'm doing what I'm supposed to
28:20
be doing, but he's going to learn in a moment that there's
28:25
wisdom from God that's going to come into his life.
28:30
Moses is God's representative, and the people did come to him,
28:33
but his system right now is set up for failure.
28:38
Set up for failure. There's no way he can do this by
28:41
himself forever. No way.
28:45
That's why I often tell people within the ministry here that
28:48
might be on the edge or very tired.
28:50
I'm like the answer to all the ministry problems in a church is
28:53
people and every person. If you use the Paul and Timothy
28:58
illustration, Paul the apostle always had people with him.
29:01
Did you know this idea? He was always pouring into
29:03
people, taking people with him. He was always pouring into
29:05
people. And the way we describe that
29:07
relationship is in in your position as Paul, you should
29:10
always have a Timothy, somebody you're pouring into teaching.
29:14
You know, I say have many always looking for the next person that
29:17
God puts in your path that has a calling similar to yours or a
29:21
desire to serve in the church similar to yours.
29:23
You know, within our church, I, I tell the I tell the guys,
29:26
don't wait, just wait for applications like, well, you
29:29
know, I'll have help when somebody fills out a ministry
29:31
application. No, no, no, you, you're always
29:34
meeting people and you're, you're, you're praying about
29:36
them and you're ministering to them and you're just inviting
29:39
them along. You know, even inviting them
29:41
along. They may not be for you.
29:42
That invite might be to encourage them, but every Paul
29:45
should have a Timothy and then Timothy's.
29:47
You should always be looking to someone to serve with and learn
29:49
from. We're, we're, we're pouring in,
29:52
but we're also learning. So in my illustration here,
29:55
we're all Paul's and we're all Timothy's and that's the body of
29:59
Christ. But especially like Moses and
30:02
Moses certainly had his leaders, but in this problem, when they
30:05
were fighting the Amalekites, Joshua go, Aaron and her
30:09
followed and they're all ministering together.
30:12
When it comes to problems, I'll take care of it.
30:16
And I don't believe he's sinful at all.
30:17
It's just the function of it all.
30:20
It's the function and that is a great debate in the church.
30:24
They really causing leaders to argue and everything.
30:27
It's, it's not what we do, it's the how we do it.
30:30
That's everyone wants to argue about the how, but really what
30:33
matters is the, what are we doing?
30:36
What God has called us to do, what he's commanded us to do.
30:40
But how we do it is going to vary depending on who we are and
30:44
our personalities. And you know, even I think of
30:46
churches that God raises up different churches for different
30:50
types of people and different types of communities.
30:52
And that's why when you may go on vacation somewhere and you're
30:56
looking for a local Calvary there and you show up there, you
30:59
walk in, it's a beautiful service, but so different.
31:04
So much is the same, but so different.
31:06
Why? Well, you're not in Aurora
31:08
anymore. That's why God has a new, a new
31:11
community, a new place, a different pastor, different
31:14
leadership, so much the same. We do the what?
31:16
The same, but the how. And so you want to go and you
31:21
go, well, you know, we are, we don't, we don't do that that way
31:23
in our church. Hey, slow your roll a little
31:25
bit. Wait a minute, what about the
31:27
what are you teaching through the Bible?
31:29
Yes. Are you loving people?
31:31
Yes. Are you worshiping God?
31:32
Yes, yes, yes. Then we're in fellowship with
31:35
you. You hold to the essentials of
31:36
the historic Christian faith, the deity of Christ, the virgin
31:40
birth, the resurrection, you know, the things that are
31:43
essential. The what?
31:45
Then the how. There's a lot of freedom in the
31:47
how. Isn't that great?
31:48
Because there's so many different people in this room
31:50
right now, so many different people listening and watching,
31:52
so many different people. You know what God says?
31:55
I'll use all of you just as you are, your personality, the
31:59
people that you, the hobbies you're into.
32:01
You know, you like to fish. You're going to, God's going to
32:03
really make you a Fisher of men because you like to fish.
32:07
I don't like to fish, so I'm not going to be out there.
32:10
I just don't understand fishing at all.
32:14
I don't get it. But you love it.
32:17
And So what are you going to meet other fishermen?
32:20
You know where I'm going to meet people at Costco because they
32:26
cut it up and I mean, I don't even like fish.
32:28
So like, but they'll cut it up and put it in a package for you
32:31
and I'll bump into you when I'm like, oh, you're fishing.
32:33
Yes, I'm fishing at Costco. Very easy and quick.
32:37
But God is so faithful that way. And so here the nation, you
32:41
know, remember this because this, this is the same for our
32:43
church. This is so vital.
32:45
I wish that this kind of message you should teach to everybody on
32:47
the weekends, but this is for you.
32:49
So this is this is for you that want to press in on midweek.
32:52
Listen, the nation, like our church has a destination and a
32:57
destiny that they're living out. They don't fully know it yet.
33:00
You know why? Because they're caught up with
33:01
all their problems. They're caught up with their
33:03
hunger. They're caught up with their we
33:05
don't have any food. Even though mana is coming out
33:07
of their mouth. They they are stuck in the now,
33:09
but God is taking him glory like little by little into the
33:12
future. They have a promised land up
33:14
ahead and there's something always ahead for us, even as the
33:18
church, but the enemies wanting to get us stalled and get us
33:22
caught up in things that don't really matter so that now we're
33:26
upset with one another and I didn't get this and I want that.
33:29
And what about this? And you know, like the early
33:31
church, I can't believe it. We're a widow.
33:33
They're a widow. Why are they getting more?
33:35
What do you mean you're not getting more?
33:36
What? What would happen to rejoicing
33:38
in all that God has done? And like the nation here, we
33:44
need to always be adapting so that we like there's going to be
33:49
a big change here in order to adapt to the needs that are
33:54
before them. And it's a God-given change, not
33:56
just change to change, but it's God.
33:58
He's doing the work here. And we don't want to become
34:03
stuck because there are times in our own lives, aren't there,
34:06
where we get bogged down and weighed down.
34:08
We get stalled, we hit the wall, we get stuck.
34:12
And it can feel like you can get caught up in that so much.
34:15
It feels like you can't break the routine anymore is just the
34:18
way it's going to be. The earlier days were better.
34:20
Oh, I wish I had the earlier days.
34:22
I wish I had the earlier days. I'm sure the earlier days were
34:24
glorious and wonderful, but so is today.
34:28
Today's just as glorious and wonderful.
34:29
You know, God is at work today as he much as he was back then,
34:33
but we're stuck back then. We're stuck and it's just a
34:37
routine. It's a routine because God's
34:38
doing something different now and we need to walk into it.
34:43
We need to switch it up. We can't keep going this way.
34:46
So notice now in verse 17. So Moses, father-in-law said to
34:50
him, and you might just want to mark this because God will send
34:53
people into your life the same way you ready.
34:57
It says right here, the thing that you do is not good.
35:02
We should just close the Bible study right there, but we need
35:05
to be ready to say that, but also receive that and pray
35:09
through it. It may be right or wrong.
35:11
For Jethro, it's 100% right because we have the whole story.
35:14
But for someone to have the courage enough to come to you
35:18
and say the thing that you're doing, saying whatever is not
35:20
good is important. You got to listen to that.
35:25
I'm hopeful. I mean, I know sometimes people
35:27
do it for the wrong reasons and they might just be hurtful, but
35:30
with Jethro, this is not hurtful at all.
35:33
You can see it's for the sake of the people.
35:35
Both you and these people, verse 18 will surely wear themselves
35:39
out. This thing's too much for you.
35:42
You're not able to perform it by yourself.
35:46
Listen now to my voice. I'll give you counsel and God
35:50
will be with you, which basically is Jethro as a new
35:53
believer given Moses counsel, are you open to have a new
35:57
believer give you counsel? I hope you are because they're
36:01
so fresh and excited about the things of God and God sends them
36:04
into your life. They go.
36:05
I don't know, I mean, I love the Bible.
36:07
Why don't you read the Bible anymore?
36:08
Well, I've already read the Bible.
36:10
You know, whatever. Like you need that new believer
36:12
to come along. Basically he if if indeed he did
36:16
get saved in this moment, which I think he did.
36:18
Now you got a new believer, but also a well respected man, at
36:22
least the role. I know not only there are well
36:26
respected roles, father-in-law that aren't always filled with
36:31
well respected men. I get that.
36:33
But let's give it to him. He's a well respected man in a
36:36
very well respected role. And he's like, bro, you, you
36:40
just you can't do this. You're going to wear everybody
36:42
out. You, this isn't you.
36:43
You can't keep doing it. You there has to be change.
36:47
And here's this council, Stand before God for the people, so
36:51
that you may bring the difficulties to God.
36:54
And you shall teach them the statutes and the laws, and show
36:57
them the way in which they must walk and the work they must do.
37:00
Moreover, you shall select from all the people able men such as
37:05
fear God, men of truth, hating, covetousness, and play such over
37:10
them to be rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of
37:13
50s, rulers of 10s, And let them judge the people at all times.
37:17
Then it will be that every great matter they shall bring to you,
37:21
but every small matter they themselves shall judge.
37:23
So it'll be easier for you. They will bear the burden with
37:27
you if you do this thing. Verse 23 and God so commands
37:31
you. So it's like I got, here's my
37:33
counsel, but take it to the Lord, and if he confirms that
37:35
there's wisdom, then you'll be able to endure and all this
37:39
people also will go to their place in peace.
37:41
So Moses heeded the voice of his father-in-law and did all that
37:44
he had said. And Moses chose able men out of
37:47
Israel, made them heads over the people, rulers of thousands,
37:50
hundreds, 50s and 10s. They judged the people at all
37:53
times, but the hard cases they brought to Moses, but they
37:56
judged them small, every small case themselves.
37:59
Then Moses let his father-in-law depart and he went his way to
38:02
his own land. Isn't that amazing?
38:05
Just as a great chapter, there was Moses doing the best that he
38:09
could with what he had, and then God brings him somebody and
38:12
says, no, you can do it better, you're going to wipe yourself
38:15
out. Jethro had seen that Moses just
38:19
basically became a problem shuffler, and all he did all day
38:22
was listen to problems, listen to problems, listen to problems,
38:25
hearing complaints, issues and problems.
38:27
You can't bear that. You can't bear that.
38:30
And so it was solved by getting other people involved, just like
38:35
we learn in the book of Acts. We've already learned this in
38:36
the early stages of the book of Acts with that issue with the
38:39
widows. We're not going to leave the
38:42
word of God in prayer. So we're going to find able men
38:46
that can handle this problem and lead the church into the future.
38:49
And that's the model without. We're almost out of time there.
38:52
We don't have time to develop. But that's the model that we
38:54
follow here, that we collaboratively serve together,
38:59
that we're partners in the ministry, and that the lead
39:01
pastor, senior pastor, whatever you want to call this role.
39:04
I'm not the only one that can solve problems here.
39:07
I'm not the only one that's needed here.
39:09
As a matter of fact, I really can't be effective without the
39:12
help that God has given me through able men and women like
39:14
you and like the pastoral team and their families.
39:16
Like it's, it's a team. It's not one man, it's not
39:20
Moses. And unfortunately, over time,
39:24
this Moses leadership here that's repeated in the New
39:28
Testament has been made fun of with this phrase of the Moses
39:32
model, the Moses model, and it's been created into a caricature
39:38
that the Moses model of leadership is he's only in
39:40
charge and everyone else. It's nonsense.
39:43
If you read this chapter, it's collaborative.
39:46
It's cooperative. Yes, Moses has a responsibility
39:50
that's unique to him, which is true even in your home, you
39:53
marry couples. Did you know in the in the home,
39:57
the husband has a unique role in the home that can only be
40:00
fulfilled by him? Did you know that that's God
40:02
ordained, that's God created, that it doesn't make him any
40:07
more important than anyone else. It's just the role and the
40:10
responsibility. And so I don't receive and I
40:13
don't accept the caricature of the Moses model, the idea that
40:17
God would raise up a man. And you can see that throughout
40:21
James in the New Testament, Peter, Paul, Jesus, Moses, all
40:26
the judges, the kings, even if they were bad and surround him
40:30
with other men and for that sake women to serve alongside of him.
40:34
That is a biblical teaching, not just Moses model, it's a Bible
40:40
model. What happens with structures in
40:43
the church? This is what we all have to
40:45
watch out for. And you know, there are
40:48
different ways to oversee the church, different models of
40:51
church government. Episcopalian, Presbyterian
40:54
pastor LED all kinds of that. I've done this in previous
40:57
studies. Here's the thing to watch out
40:59
for. If the model of church
41:02
governance is biblical or is within the biblical teaching
41:07
like acceptable, then here's here's considering all that.
41:11
Here's the most important part when it comes to church
41:14
governance, if the motto is biblical, it's actually the
41:17
motto is not as important as the men that fill the roles.
41:23
That's the most important part, which is why I don't know, a
41:26
couple weeks ago, maybe last week, I'd look at all the
41:28
pastors in the room in our pastors meeting that we have on
41:32
Wednesdays. And I look at them and I tell
41:35
them, as I also tell myself, don't disqualify yourself.
41:41
It's one of the most important decisions you can make.
41:45
Don't disqualify yourself. I mean, that's how it starts,
41:49
right? When you neglect that thought,
41:51
oh, it's no big deal. Oh, it's no, I'll never get
41:53
caught. That's where it starts, where
41:54
you don't think. You know what, Lord, I want to
41:56
be usable for your Kingdom. I want to be more usable, not
42:01
less usable. I want to progress in what God
42:03
has. I don't want less.
42:05
I want to have more commitment and obedience, not compromise.
42:09
So don't disqualify. And I say that to us, to all of
42:12
us live a life above reproach. Let the Lord do his work in you,
42:17
and then we will bear the burden together.
42:20
Amen. Do you believe in that?
42:22
That did you see it? We're going to bear together.
42:24
We take this council, we're going to do it together, I like
42:29
to say. And we say around here, we as
42:30
the language of ministry, we do it together.
42:33
We have our roles, our responsibilities for sure, and
42:36
we take them very seriously. But nobody's a Lone Ranger
42:39
around here. We all do it together.
42:41
You're just as important to the body of Christ than I am.
42:44
And you go, but Ed, you're a pastor.
42:45
Yeah, but that's the role that God gave me.
42:47
So you know what? That makes me faithful.
42:51
What's the role that God gave you?
42:53
Are you walking in it? Are you living in it?
42:56
Are you committed to it? And you say yes, Amen.
42:59
You know what that makes you faithful.
43:02
So now what does that make us? I'm faithful, you're faithful.
43:06
Guess what? We're faithful.
43:08
And that's how we'll stand before the Bema seat of Christ.
43:11
Well done, good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of
43:16
the Lord. Amen.
43:18
So thank you for this chapter, Lord, and the word that you give
43:20
us, may we heed it today. And Lord, I just, I asked that
43:26
you would help us to grow in grace and understanding that we
43:31
might, we might be built up in you, Lord.
43:35
And, and we don't want to fulfill any caricature.
43:38
We don't want to take advantage of your church.
43:40
We don't want to be unaccountable leaders or any of
43:45
the things that bad men have given a bad reputation to a good
43:48
church. And so I pray for the pastoral
43:51
team here and their marriages and their children, those who
43:56
have them. I pray for the team, the staff,
44:00
for their marriages, those who have them and their children,
44:03
their grandchildren. Pray for the lay leaders of this
44:06
church, hundreds upon hundreds upon hundreds, for their wives
44:11
and husbands and children, if they have them.
44:14
I pray for the future leaders, Lord, the men and women that are
44:17
going to rise to the occasion, to the call that you have on
44:20
their lives so that you would have a good reputation from this
44:28
little church. That's all we really have
44:30
responsibility for, that your name will be glorified.
44:35
When we share and rejoice all that you've done, people will be
44:38
happy with us. I pray for some of these
44:40
conversations about Thanksgiving.
44:42
It's easy to talk about them, but it's kind of hard to have
44:44
them. I just remember all those times
44:48
we talked to Rick. Sometimes he was sober,
44:51
sometimes he wasn't. It was so hard but I'm grateful
44:57
it some of his final days alive. He gave his life to you Lord
45:01
just so encouraging to us. We're just so happy even though
45:06
it was 1 long hard Rd. with that man that a lot of celebrations
45:12
and a lot of family gatherings. So God give us the strength.
45:17
We keep praying for those that we love so much.
45:20
Our brother in laws, our sister in laws, our nieces, our
45:23
nephews, our moms, our dads, the prodigals and that we might be a
45:28
church that lives in your agape love and deals with what we got
45:33
to deal with. Repent of what we got to repent
45:35
from so that we can bear the burden together and the fruit
45:39
will be shared like the the rewards and stuff will be shared
45:43
among us. We're grateful for your
45:46
faithfulness. Lord in Jesus name, Amen.
45:50
We pray that you've been encouraged by this Bible study
45:53
delivered live from the sanctuary of Calvary Church for
45:56
prayer. Call us at 87730 grace that's
46:01
877-304-7223. To listen to this message in its
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integrity or to join us for our live stream services, visit us
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online at Calvary Co dot Church or download our free Calvary
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Church app. Be blessed as you worship Jesus
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this week.